Device Backup Reference

Overview

The Backup tab under Settings > Device allows you to control how and when backup operations take place, what files to include and exclude from backup, the frequency of backup and how long versions should be retained. Advanced settings allow you to control backup processes like real-time file watching, data de-duplication, encryption and compression.

General

Item

Description

a

Backup Sets

Displays Backup Sets sheet in which you can create and configure backup sets.

b

Backup will run

Indicates whether backups are always running or running only at specific times

Always - Backup is always running

Between specified times - Backup will run only at specified times

c

Verify selection every

Scan system for file changes and deleted files within your backup selection at the interval and time of day you specify. If the computer is powered off or asleep at the scheduled scan time, the scan will wait until the next scheduled scan time to run.

d

Lock

Locks this setting to prevent users from changing it in their personal settings.

e

Push

Indicates whether or not a change in this setting applies to existing users in addition to new users.

File selection

Pathnames of directories that are included in backups. If the File Selection settings are not locked, users are allowed to add to this list, and to remove selections from this list. Click the X to remove an item from the list.

Pathnames of directories that are excluded from backups. If the File Selection settings are not locked, users are allowed to add to this list, and to remove selections from this list. Click the X to remove an item from the list.

g

Lock

Locks this setting to prevent users from changing it in their personal settings.

h

Push

Indicates whether or not a change in this setting applies to existing users in addition to new users.

Consideration: Keep in mind that excluding previously selected files results in excluded files being deleted from the backup archive. The now-excluded files will not be available for restoring.

Included and excluded filesInclusions are processed first, followed by exclusions. Files that are in both the inclusions and exclusions will be excluded, since the exclusion list is processed last.

Destinations

This section allows you to choose which destinations are used by newly added devices immediately upon first signing in.

Selecting a destination will cause new devices to automatically start backing up to it. Deselecting a destination will allow users to back up to the destination by clicking Start Backup in the CrashPlan app.

Displays window in which you can paste the contents of a text file with filename patterns / regex items you wish to exclude.

f

Export

Displays window in which you can copy the contents of the excluded files list, which you can in turn paste into your favorite text editor for editing.

g

Lock

Locks this setting to prevent users from changing it in their personal settings.

h

Push

Indicates whether or not a change in this setting applies to existing users in addition to new users.

Frequency and versions

Item

Description

a

Frequency - Back up new version

Indicates how often CrashPlan PROe backs up and creates new versions of files in your archive.

b

Versions to keep from last week

Indicates which versions to keep from last week (not including today).

c

Versions to keep from last 90 days

Indicates which versions to keep from last 90 days (not including last week).

d

Versions to keep from last year

Indicates which versions to keep from last year (not including the last 90 days).

e

Versions to keep from previous years

Indicates which versions to keep from previous years (not including last year).

f

Remove deleted files after

Period after which deleted files are removed from the archive.

g

Lock

Locks this setting to prevent users from changing it in their personal settings.

h

Push

Indicates whether or not a change in this setting applies to existing users in addition to new users.

Advanced settings

Item

Description

a

Data de-duplication

Controls data de-duplication rate.

Automatic - Full de-duplication is used when going over an Internet connection. Minimal is used when going direct to disk or over LAN.

Full - Every effort is made to identify duplicate data. While being 100% effective, it requires a great deal of CPU power. You're sacrificing CPU and speed to save bandwidth and disk at destination.

Minimal - Several methods are used to identify duplicate data. While about 90% effective, it requires far less CPU power and will speed up initial backup speed significantly, typically 400% on a single processor system.

b

Compression

Controls how CrashPlan service compresses your backup. Compressed backups use less bandwidth and less disk space. Compression does consume some CPU, but not enough to offset overhead due to maxing out your bandwidth or I / O. Because you generally have more CPU available than bandwidth or disk I / O, we do not recommend turning off compression.

Automatic - Files that do not compress well or are already compressed are not compressed by CrashPlan service.

On - All files are compressed.

Off - No files are compressed.

c

Encryption enabled

Indicates whether encryption is turned on.

d

Watch file system in real-time

Indicates whether CrashPlan service is constantly monitoring for file changes.

e

Back up open files

Indicates whether files that are open (in use) at the time of back up will be backed up.

f

Lock

Locks this setting to prevent users from changing it in their personal settings.

g

Push

Indicates whether or not a change in this setting applies to existing users in addition to new users.